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Syndicate

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

NEW YORK — A New York Supreme Court granted partial discovery Monday to Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, forcing Major League Baseball to hand over documents relating to the long-standing dispute over the Washington Nationals’ regional television rights fees. MASN, which is majority controlled by the Baltimore Orioles, had been seeking documents detailing incoming MLB commissioner Rob Manfred’s involvement with a arbitration panel that ruled this summer that MASN should pay the Nationals more in rights fees.

After three hours of arguments, Judge Lawrence Marks also approved MASN’s request that MLB turn over documents detailing the panel’s meetings, attendance and the details of the correspondence between Manfred and any MLB staff and the panel. MASN contends that Manfred, who has been serving as Commissioner Bud Selig’s right-hand man, and MLB had a vested interest in the panel’s ruling, which awarded the Nationals nearly $300 million in TV rights fees during the 2012-2016 “reset” period.